The goal today was to regroup, assess the money we had to work with, and then SPEND EVERY CENT.

I was like a kid in a candy store. ;)

We finished off our china place settings and silverware.

I joked with Eric that these were perfect:

We’re just in love with the design we selected. We wanted to go with a very simple china pattern so it hopefully won’t date itself as quickly as some of the others.

Our china: Classic silver rimmed

I also love the unique look of the cutlery- slender, modern, and sleek looking. We figured since we went with such a timeless china pattern, we could get away with a bolder silverware.

How cool is this silverware?! And is it this normal that it excites us so much? I guess that’s what living off mis-matched hand me downs will do to a couple.

The Wedding Cake

We also took out the top layer of our wedding cake from the freezer (yes, it was transported through our move too!).

Let’s just say the cake wasn’t any better than when we had it on our wedding night.

The wedding cake was a huge DUD on our wedding day. Dry, dry, dry.

But like my mom says, ‘Ange, if that was the only thing that went wrong on your wedding day, consider yourself lucky!’

I whole heartedly agree. :D

Eric took a tester bite and said it was the worst cake he’s ever tasted so we tossed it out. I certainly was not surprised. And 1 year in the freezer didn’t do it any good. Even the rose didn’t save it!

Onward and upward!

I love roses.

We have them in the house maybe twice a year and I savour every minute with them!

The gifts

Eric and I always give silly cards (but then write mushy stuff on the back). This was the card I got him. It was perfect! You know when you read a card and you say, ‘That is so us!!’ ?

Finally, I can unveil the gift I have been working on for the past while!

I made an anniversary capsule!

I thought it was fitting for the paper tradition. ;)

I had so much fun putting this together!

The idea is, each year we will complete 1 page for our anniversary. I think it will be so awesome to look back over time and see how we/times changed.

Things I included:

Prices (gas, loaf of bread, etc)

What we did that whole year (this took the longest because I had to find exact dates!)

Current picture of us

What we own

Our favourite things (songs, TV shows, movies, etc)

In the news (thanks for your help!)

The year, our age, and what the tradition was (this year was paper)

Weather report

I also got him a security camera that he has been wanting for ages, but I knew he wouldn’t ever buy it for himself. It hasn’t arrived yet, but hopefully in the next day or two.

Then, it was time for my gifts!

For the paper theme, he blew up a bunch of our wedding pictures. They looked great! We need to get some frames and put them up.

And then I almost had a heart attack when I opened my next gift. For the longest time I have wanted a macro lens for the SLR camera. Macro lens are great for close-ups and are used a lot for food photography!

Congrats on your first anniversary!!! How awesome for you guys! China. Wow. I have to say, I am thinking of pimping up my game by adding to my everyday dishes, which are from Pottery Barn. But I am hesitant to drop any extra money on dishes that I think are “nice” but quite a far cry from china. That’s a big purchase, I’m so happy for you that you got your place settings! I skipped the china and just went for the Vita-Mix. But it took me 8.5 yrs of marriage before I got it…haha. Anyway, wonderful pics, thanks for sharing, I am so glad he liked his gifts, that’s so lovely of you to have been workin so hard on some great surprises!

Happy Anniversary!!! What fabulous presents – you two are both so thoughtful to each other!! I LOVE the capsule idea (I’m kicking myself in the butt for not starting it last year – but I guess I could always jump in and start it on our second anniversary) :)

love your registry shopping trip, love your gift (and card!) to Eric, and LOVE your new camera accessories!!! Those are on my Christmas list (haha I think ahead). :) May the next 365 days and more be just as beautiful, weird, silly, romantic, passionate and loving. :) xoxo!

Happy Anniversary Ange, all the way from Singapore. I am so much inspired by you and your energy and gorgeous smile just made my day every morning after reading your entries.

Just wanted you to know that since I discovered your blog I have been trying to run on the treadmill (its too humid in Singapore for outdoor running). You will not believe that I can never jog or run for more than 1 minute before starting to walk and now I can run 8kph for 10 minutes straight without taking a break. I can now run 4km in 30 minutes and my goal is to run 5k in 30 minutes. I know it may not be such a big thing but for me it is.

Keep glowing and keep smiling. I feel motivated after reading your blog whenever I have a bad day.

Ahh Happy first anniversary! You know how you see those couples that look so perfect together that you almost want to puke(kidding!) thats you guys. I hope someday i can find someone as wonderful as you did. and be as happy as you guys seem to be. I love how you got classic place settings but daring silverware. && your gift look amazing, i might have to come to canada and steal your camera!(kidding of course….kinda.lol)

Happy Anniversary! What wonderful gifts! I love the time capsule idea! Will your new lense shave off a few pounds from my next picture .. okay maybe I need several pounds shaved off! he he! See you in two weeks! Can’t wait! Love your Sis …

Happy Anniversary from Malaysia! I totally envy you guys so much. They are like a couple made in Heaven. May I one day able to seek happiness just like you. And I love the time capsule you did. I’m thinking of doing one myself the day I get married.

awww…happy anniversary-slightly belated :) you guys look so happy together and i hope you have many such anniversaries to look forward too! and your gifts to each other were both creative and practical- an awesome combo! seriously, ze best of wishes from me to you guys :D

Awwww!!! You look sooo incredible happy!!! I’m so glad you two found each other!! It sets a good example that true love DOES exist!! Thank you!!
You give me hope everytime I see you two together!!
I wish you all the best (a little late, sorry!) and many more awesome years!! Hugs

What an awesome anniversary!! And thoughtful gifts to boot! You must have had heaps of fun at the registry and even though you couldn’t take it all home, you get to relive it again when the rest of it arrives :) As for the weirdness – trust me . . . it only gets better as time goes on. :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!! Your gift was fantastic! Such a great idea! I wish I had thought of it! The Mister and I have been married for 3 years now, so It might noT be too late to put something sinilar together — so CUTE!

I think we have the same exact wedding china!! So beautiful, yet simple and useable. Our 4 year wedding anniversary is on Thursday…I might have to get out a few plates and have a special dinner!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Courtney
Adventures in Tri-ing

i hope you will review the waffle maker. i think we are on our 3 or 4 waffle maker and they just fizzle out for us (starts in the middle by not cooking and then from there it just doesn’t crisp the waffle like we like them)

I think your anniversary gift to Eric was perfect! I thought my Husband and I were the only ones who follow the traditional anniversary gifts :)
For our first, the Husband actually got me a book like the one you made…but of course, he left making the yearly pages up to me! I thought it was such a sweet idea.
Don’t worry…we got excited about our cutlery too ;)

The more I read your blog the more I laugh. You and Eric are SO much like my hubby and I. I was reading this on my phone in the car and I had to read the waffle part out loud. Hillarious. We have one of those too and my guy just announced he is having a regular waffle for dinner. Happy anniversary – funny I’m reading this so close to yours! Ours is 8/21 – just wrapped up 6 funfilled years. :)

I love love love this idea and am totally stealing it for my 1st anniversary coming up soon! Where did you get that awesome giant book?
PS Just found your blog through some girlfriends and absolutely love it :)

I love love love this idea and I’m totally going to steal it for my anniversary this year! (Except it will be my 7th anniversary, so I have a few pages to get done to get caught up to THIS anniversary! lol) Also, my daughter just came home w/a project for school: to create a page about her that will be hung up in the classroom all year. This gave me some inspiring ideas. Thanks!